zaterdag 20 maart 2010

Thank you for signing our petition!

(click image for article) It's been a month since the regional newspaper La Meuse published a story about the badger in the snare. We hereby present a Dutch translation that will soon be followed by an English one. What is interesting in this article, is that the words from the game warden contradict various facts that can easily be proved if you take a look at the photographs taken in the small forest strip where the badger was found on February 11.

There are multiple snares very close to the main fortress and near exits and entrances. So where is the barbed wire you talk about, monsieur le garde-chasse? What about the rare chance, "cela arrive une fois sur 10.000!" if you deliberately place snares in a badger's habitat? That's far from legal!

From his holiday home in Switzerland, lawyer Pierre Baudinet, known for his love of hunting, declared he didn't own the grounds involved and that it's a hunting terrain from his father, who is of old age and sick (88). His sworn game warden takes care of everything. "People have to stop associating me systematically with everything." Well then, that should be clear now.

According to Olivier Rubbers (ASBL Rangers), Pierre Baudinet hadn't been informed about the badger and that the animal died after hours of suffering. Olivier Rubbers filed a case against the old Georges Baudinet back in 2007, for having trapped a badger in his own garden. With various witnesses present, the game warden kicked the badger as an act of provocation. The court case was dismissed because Baudinet had all the right papers...

It's true there's a videoclip circulating on the internet of the badger who was caught in a snare. "This protected animal has suffered a great deal," says Olivier Rubbers. "Six people can vouch for it. The badger received a maximum of care in the rescue center, but died nonetheless. We filed a complaint at the U.A.B. the Anti Poachers Brigade, because it is unacceptable that the well-being of animals is breached this way. And we also can't just ignore the malpractice this family is responsible for."

The ASBL Ranger confirms that the legislation regarding these issues is of a hypocritical nature. "The Region Wallon authorises the snares to catch the fox, the wild cat, the marten and the European polecat. It is emphasized that the animal under no condition should suffer, nor is it allowed to catch protected species. This is hypocrital, shameful and degrading. Who makes a mockery of it all?" is said with head held high.

It's true that the Wallonian legislation allows the use of snares, with the restriction that they have a seal to prevent from strangling an animal if it's not a fox. "I have absolutely nothing to be afraid of," declares the game warden of the Baudinet family who put the snare where the badger got trapped and died the following day due to his injuries. "I'm a sworn game warden and according to the law I have the right to place snares that are distributed by the Conseil Cynégétique de Hesbaye. With a diameter of 7 centimeters it usually only catches a fox, other animals are set free. Alas, a badger got strangled. He probably found a way through the barbed wire and ended up in the snare. It happens just once every ten thousand times! Or very seldom, at least. Alas it's legal, so I have nothing to fear."